In his third week of hospitalization, Pope Francis who suffers from a pulmonary infection remains in a “complex” but “stable” state according to the Vatican. The sovereign pontiff received visits his last days, but the doctors say that the “prognosis is reserved”.
The essentials:
- Pope Francis has been hospitalized since February 14, 2025 after contracting a bilateral polymicrobial pulmonary infection. He has since presented renal failure and anemia that seem under control.
- The state of health of Pope Francis is no longer “critical”, but “complex” after three weeks of hospitalization. It is also “stable” according to the press release from the Holy See published this Monday, March 3. The sovereign pontiff “rested all night” and “only” needed “of high speed oxygen therapy” specifies the Vatican.
- Pope Francis has resumed work from the hospital and has received several visits including those of the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin and Mgr Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs. The fact remains that the Holy Father could not lead the Angelus for the third consecutive Sunday.
- The hospitalization of the Pope must still last at least a few days. “Given the complexity of the clinical picture, other days of clinical stability are necessary to remove the reserved prognosis. He will not orchestrate on March 5, the Cendish Wednesday celebrations, which marks the beginning of Lent, as the Vatican announced, supporting the thesis of prolonged hospitalization.
- The various pathologies from which the Pope suffers, coupled with the disturbing communication of the Vatican – using serious terms – testify to the complexity of the situation. “These are the most serious and most concern press releases that we have ever seen,” alert Loup Besmond de Senneville, corresponding to the Vatican. The risk of septicemia is still not dismissed by doctors.
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17:22 – Pope Francis alternates between “rest and prayer”
If the Vatican mentioned in improvements and a stability in Pope Francis’ health, the Sovereign Pontiff missed the Angelus for the third consecutive Sunday on March 2. However, the Holy Father “participated in the Holy Mass, with the people who take care of him during these days of hospitalization, then he alternated rest and prayer,” said the Vatican press room.
16:40 – Pope Francis continues to have a visit
Despite his hospitalization, Pope Francis receives visits. This Sunday, March 2, he notably received the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, as well as Mgr Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs. The Vatican presents its visits as a sign of an improvement, of course, of the state of health of the Sovereign Pontiff. The Holy See also assures that Pope Francis has taken over some of his activities.
16:13 – A calm night under respiratory aid
“The pope rested well overnight” assured the Vatican press room this Monday morning, at the start of the third week of hospitalization of the Sovereign Pontiff. The Holy See said that the health of Pope Francis remained “stable” despite a painting remaining “complex” and an always “reserved” prognosis. Last night, the sovereign pontiff did not need “non -invasive mechanical ventilation, but only of high -speed oxygen therapy”.
Could 03/02/25 – 15:41 – could the Pope resign and return to the Jesuits?
End of the live – While the Pope has been hospitalized for more than two weeks, rumors around a possible resignation are going well. Caroline Pigozzi, journalist specializing in the Vatican interviewed by TF1said that in the “Jesuit communities I spoke, he could return to the Jesuits”. Especially since March 12 is the 65 anniversary of his entry to the Jesuits, in 1960. The date could therefore be a symbolic opportunity for the Pope to resign and announce his return to the religious community.
02/03/25 – 11:39 am – The pope spent a “quiet night”, his condition is deemed “stable”
While Pope Francis has been in the hospital for more than two weeks, the Vatican said he spent a “peaceful night”, and that his state of health was deemed “stable”. Yesterday, his condition was described as “reserved”. It therefore seems to show a sign of improvement. However, he will not celebrate the traditional weekly prayer of the Angelus this Sunday, it will be published in the form of a letter to the faithful, for the third consecutive time.
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“The Pope slept well overnight and rests,” said the Holy See in a brief press release this Thursday, February 27. The sovereign pontiff is now in a “stable” state, and his “reserved” vital prognosis. “On Wednesday evening, the latest health bulletin explained that the scanner passed by François showed a normal development of pulmonary inflammation and good blood tests. In the afternoon of Wednesday, February 26, François also continued his professional activities. The prognosis remains reserved according to doctors,” said the press release.
At the end of last week, “the complexity of the clinical picture and the necessary wait for pharmacological therapies to take effect to remain reserved on the prognosis,” said his health bulletin. In addition, some examinations showed an initial renal failure, certainly light, but well present. If doctors indicate that this relatively disturbing aspect of his health remains “under control”, the accumulation of pathologies revealed in Pope Francis does not bode well, moreover at an advanced age.
Pope Francis has been hospitalized for more than two weeks, but he has been sick for longer. What has been announced as bronchitis has become pneumonia affecting the two lungs. In detail, the Vatican indicates that “polymicrobial infection, which has declared itself against the backdrop of bronchitasis and asthmatic bronchitis, and which required the use of antibiotic therapy based on cortisone, makes therapeutic treatment more complex”. On Saturday February 22, the Pope was also the victim of an breathing asthmatic crisis. He then needed a broadband oxygen supply, as well as blood transfusion. “The state of the Holy Father remains critical and, as we explained yesterday, the Pope is not out of danger,” a statement from the Vatican said on Saturday evening.
Pope Francis’s fragile health
Caution remains in view of the fragile health of Pope Francis, 88 years old. Especially since a long hospitalization is not without risk as Margherita de Talle de Torrere sulra indicated on Wednesday: “The most dreaded danger is sepsis, the passage of microorganisms in the blood which propagate to other organs, with very serious consequences”. The Italian newspaper also revealed that the sovereign pontiff should observe two to three weeks of “absolute rest”. In France, the deputy editor-in-chief of the cross and former correspondent to the Vatican, Loup Besmond de Senneville, is also worried about the view of the communication of the Holy See on RTL: “If the Vatican evokes a worrying, complex clinical picture, with words that report real problems, it is clearly the most serious and most concern communications that we have ever seen on hospitalization of Pope Francis”.
In recent years, the octogenarian has multiplied hospitalizations and operations, some of which had been hidden by religious authorities before being revealed by Italian media. The health concerns of the Pope, who appeared, very weakened had then aroused great concern. After consecutive and rather important medical problems, between 2021 and 2023, Pope Francis seems to have escaped new big health problems in recent months. The new hospitalization of the Pope at the beginning of 2025 is worrying, the state of the Pope is to be monitored: in people over 75, acute bronchitis can justify increased medical surveillance, especially when symptoms and inflammation persist beyond 10 days.